Short description of your proposed project: The Digital Divide adversely affects Asheville High School and SILSA students thus helping perpetuate the Achievement Gap we have (for example, in 2008-09, the Gap in Algebra I was 47.1 points; in English I, it was 37.4). We propose the following: vProviding supervised access to AHS Media Center computer labs for students: Øto conduct research Øto access resources and support for use of Study Island, Inspiration 8, MS Officeand other programs for remediation and to complete assignments as needed Øto collaborate with other students to complete school projects. Øto receive homework or project help from student tutors from the National Honor Society or other campus organizations. ØCapacity: up to 25 students per day. vProviding training for AHS/SILSA students’ parents on: ØOnline publishing ØOnline Safety ØThe North Carolina Graduation Project- what are the requirements, timeline, how to support your child’s success ØUse of MS Office and comparable free applications for: resumes, business letters, budgeting, presentations, ØDigital Communications – set up email accounts and train in use ; offer participating parent-run NING ØUse of school district sites, government sites, online forms ØAccessing Information related to parenting, jobs, online training for job readiness ØCapacity: up to 30 adults per session; vProviding support and training as requested for future community homework help-sites.
Describe how the project (PCC and/or SBA) would enhance services for health care delivery, education, or children – and how access to citizens with disabilities would be ensured. This project would help Asheville High School and SILSA bridge the Digital Divide and provide support for affected students in attaining their educational goals.Specifically, this project will provide students access to hardware and software resources to provide after-hours support in their work in core classes, collaborative or group projects, research projects, and the Graduation Project. Additionally, the project would support a valuable outreach effort to the parents of these students by both schools in providing an orientation in the NC Graduation Project and the use of instructional technology in the classrooms of both Asheville High School and SILSA.
Describe the capacity of the proposed Public Computing Center(s) and the populations to be served, including possible membership fees and restrictions. On a daily basis, we could serve a maximum of 25 students, each of whom will have completed an Appropriate Use Agreement, through our after-school access to the Media Center, and up to 50 adults in our bi-monthly parent training sessions.These sessions would be limited to parents or guardians of AHS/SILSA students, each of whom would be required to complete the AUP before proceeding.Populations include students in grades 9-12, and parents/guardians of those students.No fees will be collected.
Summarize the viability of the PCC project including technology to be used, qualifications of management team, partnerships, and a project timeline. We offer 1 -2 desktop computer labs (25-50 computers), access to Smartboards, and mounted LCD projectors.Supervision would be provided by state-licensed instructors from the AHS and SILSA faculties.Through this project, both AHS and SILSA plans include collaboration with community agencies such as the YWCA and Upward Bound working to address the needs of our students. We will begin this project September 14, 2009 pending funding and continue until through the end of the school year in June of 2010.Both the student sessions and the parent sessions would be held in the campus Media Center. The media center will be open until 5:00 Monday through Thursday for walk-in access. Timeline:
AHS-SILSA Cougar Tech Team meetings and–
Sept 1 or 1 week after receipt of funding award
map resources to schedule of classes andopen access hours;
develop guidelines for program and use of facilities; design method of sign up for parent classes
get input from school staffs for best service
coordinate with community partners
2 weeks after receipt of grant award Publish program offerings
2 weeks after receipt of grant award – open services; classes begin 4 weeks from receipt of funding award
December - AHS-SILSA Cougar Tech Team meet to check benchmark data: participation, participant evaluations and feedback
January – re-publish program
March -AHS-SILSA Cougar Tech Team meet to check benchmark data: participation, participant evaluations and feedback
June - AHS-SILSA Cougar Tech Team meet to check benchmark data: participation, participant evaluations and feedback; prepare accountability documents for grant ; plan for reopening facility next school year inAugust
Re-open each August with prior development, publishing
Quarterly management meetings; June annually meet for accountability reporting and regrouping for improved services
For SBA funding requests, describe the following:Target population; barriers to adoption, awareness campaign and how its impact will be measured; how the project is an effective and appropriate means for creating sustainable adoption in the target population; how the project is innovative. Target population: students and their families without either access or skills to use Internet and other technologies relevant to digital age citizenship Barriers to adoption:
Adequate student access to media center resources during school and after school
§Lack of adequate access to digital resources for 40% of our students to do the extensive assignments in research, project-based learning, and cooperative team work. §Lack of parental understanding of how to monitor, guide, and assist students working effectively and safely online §Lack of adequate literacy skills in general of a large population of adults in our school district §Lack parental digital communication skills and connectedness with school and community resources; parents reluctant to ask for support in this arena §Funding for staffing to assist populations in getting skills and comfort using broadband cloud applications and internet resources Awareness campaign:we would use the following resources for building awareness: §District and school web-pages §Connect-Ed phone messages §Traditional media (Asheville Citizen-Times and WLOS) §Announcements posted on campus and made during the school day Measures of IMPACT: we would collect the following data: §Attendance logs §Achievement data of students participating §Achievement data of students whose parents participate §Qualitative surveys of participants How project creates sustainable adoption: §Providing access to hardware and software for students adversely affected by the Digital Divide and a support system for them §Building relationships and capacity among our stakeholders adversely affected by the Digital Divide is expected to encourage parental adoption of broadband use and the understanding of the importance for themselves and their families. How the project is innovative: §Extending learning for all students beyond school hours §Supporting collaborative groups of students helping each other with adult coaching §Systematic program of student volunteers as peer support which also fosters community service ethic §Addressing digital literacy gaps in preparation for high school 1:1 laptop initiative which is tentatively scheduled to begin for students 2010 in the fall §Supports students in the use of our new online classroom sites using Moodle, an open-source application that includes networking, resource sharing, and accountability in a safe online environment. §Reaching out to students’ families to build digital literacy capacity along with parental resource awareness and job readiness
For both PCC and SBA requests, explain how the project will be sustainable beyond the stimulus funding period. We will build capacity with volunteers to do the training and support of participants, pursue funding and community partners from other organizations to sustain these efforts once we get them established. We plan to work with our partners and volunteers to build capacity to sustain high quality programs and participant support including Upward Bound, YWCA, Children First, AHS/SILSA Business Alliance, ACS Foundation. We will develop materials for trainings that can be carried out by volunteers. ACS will sustain the technology and facilities.
How much money are you requesting?Please show a line-item budget for your request (Brenda Mills is compiling our collective budget). We are requesting full funding the 1st 2 years and ½ funding the 3rd year After-School Access to Media Center: §Personnel costs: oTeachers: $3600 per year ($9,000 total ) §$25 for 1 hour for 1 teacher 4 days per week for 36 weeks plus 5 hours of accountability record-keeping and reporting, coordinating with other teachers §Materials: paper, printer toner$500/year ($1,250 total) Parent Training Sessions : §Personnel costs: oTeachers: $2000($5000 total for the life of the grant) §$25 for 2 hours for 2 teachers twice monthly for 10 months §Materials: paper, printer toner$200/year
Can your agency provide cash or in-kind contributions to help meet the 20 percent matching requirement?Please describe. In-kind contributions: §Student tutors: $2880 o2 tutors per day @ $10/hour, 4 days per week for 36 weeks §Use of facilities oAfter-school access to Media Center: $7200 §1 hour per day @ $50/hour, 4 days per week for 36 weeks oParent Training Sessions: $2000 §2 hour per day @ $50/hour, 2 times monthly for 10 months §Technical support and equipment replacement @ $200/yr/computer and $100/year for projector for 30 computers and 1 data projector= $9,100/yr
v Providing supervised access to AHS Media Center computer labs for students:
Ø to conduct research
Ø to access resources and support for use of Study Island, Inspiration 8, MS Office and other programs for remediation and to complete assignments as needed
Ø to collaborate with other students to complete school projects.
Ø to receive homework or project help from student tutors from the National Honor Society or other campus organizations.
Ø Capacity: up to 25 students per day.
v Providing training for AHS/SILSA students’ parents on:
Ø Online publishing
Ø Online Safety
Ø The North Carolina Graduation Project- what are the requirements, timeline, how to support your child’s success
Ø Use of MS Office and comparable free applications for: resumes, business letters, budgeting, presentations,
Ø Digital Communications – set up email accounts and train in use ; offer participating parent-run NING
Ø Use of school district sites, government sites, online forms
Ø Accessing Information related to parenting, jobs, online training for job readiness
Ø Capacity: up to 30 adults per session;
v Providing support and training as requested for future community homework help-sites.
This project would help Asheville High School and SILSA bridge the Digital Divide and provide support for affected students in attaining their educational goals. Specifically, this project will provide students access to hardware and software resources to provide after-hours support in their work in core classes, collaborative or group projects, research projects, and the Graduation Project.
Additionally, the project would support a valuable outreach effort to the parents of these students by both schools in providing an orientation in the NC Graduation Project and the use of instructional technology in the classrooms of both Asheville High School and SILSA.
On a daily basis, we could serve a maximum of 25 students, each of whom will have completed an Appropriate Use Agreement, through our after-school access to the Media Center, and up to 50 adults in our bi-monthly parent training sessions. These sessions would be limited to parents or guardians of AHS/SILSA students, each of whom would be required to complete the AUP before proceeding. Populations include students in grades 9-12, and parents/guardians of those students. No fees will be collected.
We offer 1 -2 desktop computer labs (25-50 computers), access to Smartboards, and mounted LCD projectors. Supervision would be provided by state-licensed instructors from the AHS and SILSA faculties. Through this project, both AHS and SILSA plans include collaboration with community agencies such as the YWCA and Upward Bound working to address the needs of our students.
We will begin this project September 14, 2009 pending funding and continue until through the end of the school year in June of 2010. Both the student sessions and the parent sessions would be held in the campus Media Center. The media center will be open until 5:00 Monday through Thursday for walk-in access.
Timeline:
Target population: students and their families without either access or skills to use Internet and other technologies relevant to digital age citizenship
Barriers to adoption:
- Adequate student access to media center resources during school and after school
§ Lack of adequate access to digital resources for 40% of our students to do the extensive assignments in research, project-based learning, and cooperative team work.§ Lack of parental understanding of how to monitor, guide, and assist students working effectively and safely online
§ Lack of adequate literacy skills in general of a large population of adults in our school district
§ Lack parental digital communication skills and connectedness with school and community resources; parents reluctant to ask for support in this arena
§ Funding for staffing to assist populations in getting skills and comfort using broadband cloud applications and internet resources
Awareness campaign: we would use the following resources for building awareness:
§ District and school web-pages
§ Connect-Ed phone messages
§ Traditional media (Asheville Citizen-Times and WLOS)
§ Announcements posted on campus and made during the school day
Measures of IMPACT: we would collect the following data:
§ Attendance logs
§ Achievement data of students participating
§ Achievement data of students whose parents participate
§ Qualitative surveys of participants
How project creates sustainable adoption:
§ Providing access to hardware and software for students adversely affected by the Digital Divide and a support system for them
§ Building relationships and capacity among our stakeholders adversely affected by the Digital Divide is expected to encourage parental adoption of broadband use and the understanding of the importance for themselves and their families.
How the project is innovative:
§ Extending learning for all students beyond school hours
§ Supporting collaborative groups of students helping each other with adult coaching
§ Systematic program of student volunteers as peer support which also fosters community service ethic
§ Addressing digital literacy gaps in preparation for high school 1:1 laptop initiative which is tentatively scheduled to begin for students 2010 in the fall
§ Supports students in the use of our new online classroom sites using Moodle, an open-source application that includes networking, resource sharing, and accountability in a safe online environment.
§ Reaching out to students’ families to build digital literacy capacity along with parental resource awareness and job readiness
We will build capacity with volunteers to do the training and support of participants, pursue funding and community partners from other organizations to sustain these efforts once we get them established. We plan to work with our partners and volunteers to build capacity to sustain high quality programs and participant support including Upward Bound, YWCA, Children First, AHS/SILSA Business Alliance, ACS Foundation. We will develop materials for trainings that can be carried out by volunteers. ACS will sustain the technology and facilities.
We are requesting full funding the 1st 2 years and ½ funding the 3rd year
After-School Access to Media Center:
§ Personnel costs:
o Teachers: $3600 per year ($9,000 total )
§ $25 for 1 hour for 1 teacher 4 days per week for 36 weeks plus 5 hours of accountability record-keeping and reporting, coordinating with other teachers
§ Materials: paper, printer toner $500/year ($1,250 total)
Parent Training Sessions :
§ Personnel costs:
o Teachers: $2000 ($5000 total for the life of the grant)
§ $25 for 2 hours for 2 teachers twice monthly for 10 months
§ Materials: paper, printer toner $200/year
In-kind contributions:
§ Student tutors: $2880
o 2 tutors per day @ $10/hour, 4 days per week for 36 weeks
§ Use of facilities
o After-school access to Media Center: $7200
§ 1 hour per day @ $50/hour, 4 days per week for 36 weeks
o Parent Training Sessions: $2000
§ 2 hour per day @ $50/hour, 2 times monthly for 10 months
§ Technical support and equipment replacement @ $200/yr/computer and $100/year for projector for 30 computers and 1 data projector= $9,100/yr